The JPMorgan Global Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI)rose 0.2 points to 51.8, signaling that global manufacturing saw a modest pace of expansion in September, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).
The September gain finished off the best quarter for global manufacturing in the last two years, ACC noted in the report, and the value for September reached a 27-month high. “Growth tended to be centered on the developed world, with the U.K. at the top of the global rankings and expansions also seen in the U.S., the Euro Area, Japan and Canada,” ACC pointed out. China and Brazil stagnated in September, while India, Russia and South Korea saw marginal contractions.
While production rose for the 11th consecutive month in September, the ongoing economic recovery “again failed to filter through to the labor market, and employment levels were broadly unchanged over the month,” the ACC report said.
Turning to its own data, ACC reported that the market volume for U.S. specialty chemicals rose 0.4% in August. This follows a 0.5% gain in July and a 0.1% decline in June. Of the 28 market and functional specialty chemical segments monitor by ACC, 20 expanded in August, the report said. In July, 18 were expanding in June 12 were expanding.
“During August, the large gains (1.0% and over) were in coatings, electronic chemicals, foundry chemicals, mining chemicals, paper additives, plastic additives, plasticizers, and textile specialties,” the ACC report said, while smaller gains occurred in biocides, catalysts, corrosion inhibitors, dyes, flame retardants, food additives, industrial and institutional cleaning chemicals, lubricant additives, oilfield chemicals, pigments, printing ink and water management chemicals.
Because of continued shutdown of the U.S. Federal Government, economic data produced and maintained by government agencies are not available, so ACC focused on private sector data to compile its latest economic report.